Travelling the long stretches of road through Australia's rugged outback and along picturesque coastlines is a dream for many, and one Warwick Allen and Aleisha Fisher had been planning to realise for half a decade.
When Australia's borders finally opened to all travellers, the New Zealand couple took the plunge and flew over, bought camping gear and a car and set off on a year-long road trip.
Then fuel prices started to increase.
"We had a budget, but we were looking at budgeting for around $1.70 per litre for diesel," Mr Allen said.
"So we've blown out that budget for sure.
Australian roads, especially in the sunny north, are teeming with young travellers and flocks of grey nomads towing caravans and they are all paying eye-watering prices for fuel.
The price of petrol has passed $2 a litre in most places, even after the fuel excise was halved in March, and has gone beyond $3 a litre in some remote communities in the Northern Territory.
While it is draining budgets for many, potentially cutting trips short and forcing travellers to be more thrifty, Colin Abbott from the Chamber of Commerce says it is not having as big an impact on regional towns as one might think.
In the small NT town of Katherine, which relies heavily on the seasonal influx of visitors, cafes and shops have been packed and the big tourist attractions are booked out.
"I haven't noticed a significant change in the patterns that you would normally get," Mr Abbott said.
Costs hit some harder than others
Every couple of days Mr Allen and Ms Fisher fork out about $280 to fill up their tank.
They say it is a major part of their budget and has thwarted some of their plans.
"We tend to do the free options like going for walks and we avoid the touristy things," Mr Allen said.
"We go to the national parks and pay the fees, but in terms of hot air ballooning or swimming with whale sharks, we aren't able to afford that."
Looking back on a four-month road trip to some of the most remote parts of the NT, Terri and Glenn Creelman said for the most part petrol prices did not get in the way of what could have been a last voyage.
Despite forking out more than $600 dollars every time they filled up their massive home on wheels, they said they wanted to make the most of the time they had.
"If we wait for petrol prices to drop, it might not come. We might not have the health to do it," Ms Creelman said.
The couple said they had not been entirely immune to the fuel price hikes and regularly checked apps to ensure they were getting the cheapest price.
They said they had occasionally thought twice about visiting locations off the beaten track.
Peter and Uly Chong said they had become scrupulous when it came to planning and were only travelling to the places they really wanted to see in order to save money.
"Before, we would just travel along and if there was a place to see, [we'd] stop and have a look at it," Mr Chong said.
"But now we've got to make sure we're going to a definite area to conserve fuel."
Waiting lists like never before
For two years, Katherine stockman, Marksie, who runs a seasonal camp tucker night, had to be nimble to meet the shifting realities of the pandemic but this year it had been completely different.
When fuel prices began to skyrocket earlier in the year there were concerns the tourist season would fall flat but for many operators the opposite had been true.
"Our waiting list every night is nearly 60 [people]. I've never had that," he said.
However, the high cost of fuel had affected him in other ways.
"I set my prices last year when food and fuel were all low so I've absorbed all of that cost.
"Fuel last year was around $1.18 and now it's getting up to $2.25, so they are big increases and I have to suck that up."
